Author Interview with Ikenna Okeh
Name: Ikenna Chinedu Okeh
Pen Name if different: I don't write with pen names. Never had a reasons for them, at least for now.
What first inspired you to write? I haven't given this question any thoughts before now. I can't actually say that this or that first inspired me to write. But there's an event I can relate to. In retrospect, it inspired me to write. I was about eleven at the time, and in boarding school. A friend who was a class higher up aspired to become a writer. He wrote plays, and would often ask my opinion on them. One day, to drive home some opinion, I wrote a play too. When I showed him the play I had written, he was so impressed that he began to sell me the idea of becoming a writer too. At the time, I brushed aside the idea. Though he tried as much he could, he saw my unwavering resolve in being a doctor and nothing like one of those haggard-looking poets and novelists I see on book covers and newspaper pages.
If there's anything that first inspired me to write, it was that friend from my childhood. His name is Onyeka Nwelue, and he has lived up to his early dream of becoming a published author of five books.
How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? My ideas come from everyday life. Listening to people talk, watching people walk by the road, listening to news, seeing some newspaper headline, all these can set my mind spinning. There's so much story ideas beckoning to be explored. I just can't deliver up to the pace at which my mind wills.
I wrote my third novel, Bones and Closets, in 2015. At the time, Nigeria was gearing up for the presidential elections. Promises were made, and assurances traded without thoughts. It was a moment of intrigues and playing to the gallery. I thought it best to set a crime story around the time so as to inform, while entertaining my readers. With the rest of my novels and narrative poems, there are real life events which inspired the idea of writing them.
What question do you hate the most about being a writer? Funny. But I will tell you.
"Are you really sure you're the one who wrote this?" Believe me, that's the worst question I have had tossed at me as a writer. In my part of the world, novelists and poets are seen as species belonging to some obscure world. They exist only on book covers and newspaper pages and not in the same neighborhood nor village. Hence, if the man who shares the same neighborhood with you happens upon your poem, he is sure to look at you as some impostor. And the genuineness of his disbelief could be very unnerving.
Are you indie or traditionally published?
I'm indie published.
Have you ever tried the other style of publishing?
No. I haven't tried traditional publishing. On this side, it's like taking a seat by the side of the road, waiting to see a unicorn gallop past.
What are you working on now?
At the moment, I’m concentrating my effort on the UbuntuFM Hip-Hop Radio Channel of which I am a co-founder. The UbuntuFM Hip-Hop Channel is an offshoot of the UbuntuFM project. It is an online-based platform dedicated to the promotion of Hip-Hop music to a global audience. Only recently, we launched our online radio app on the iTunes and Google Play Stores. In a very short while we have promoted quite a good number of artists and stake-holders in the entertainment business. It is been a fun ride, and I am enjoying it.
What is your most recent/upcoming release?
Email: Okehikenna@yahoo.com
Twitter: @IkennaOkeh
Facebook: https://mobile.facebook.com/okeh.ikenna
Pen Name if different: I don't write with pen names. Never had a reasons for them, at least for now.
What first inspired you to write? I haven't given this question any thoughts before now. I can't actually say that this or that first inspired me to write. But there's an event I can relate to. In retrospect, it inspired me to write. I was about eleven at the time, and in boarding school. A friend who was a class higher up aspired to become a writer. He wrote plays, and would often ask my opinion on them. One day, to drive home some opinion, I wrote a play too. When I showed him the play I had written, he was so impressed that he began to sell me the idea of becoming a writer too. At the time, I brushed aside the idea. Though he tried as much he could, he saw my unwavering resolve in being a doctor and nothing like one of those haggard-looking poets and novelists I see on book covers and newspaper pages.
If there's anything that first inspired me to write, it was that friend from my childhood. His name is Onyeka Nwelue, and he has lived up to his early dream of becoming a published author of five books.
How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? My ideas come from everyday life. Listening to people talk, watching people walk by the road, listening to news, seeing some newspaper headline, all these can set my mind spinning. There's so much story ideas beckoning to be explored. I just can't deliver up to the pace at which my mind wills.
I wrote my third novel, Bones and Closets, in 2015. At the time, Nigeria was gearing up for the presidential elections. Promises were made, and assurances traded without thoughts. It was a moment of intrigues and playing to the gallery. I thought it best to set a crime story around the time so as to inform, while entertaining my readers. With the rest of my novels and narrative poems, there are real life events which inspired the idea of writing them.
What question do you hate the most about being a writer? Funny. But I will tell you.
"Are you really sure you're the one who wrote this?" Believe me, that's the worst question I have had tossed at me as a writer. In my part of the world, novelists and poets are seen as species belonging to some obscure world. They exist only on book covers and newspaper pages and not in the same neighborhood nor village. Hence, if the man who shares the same neighborhood with you happens upon your poem, he is sure to look at you as some impostor. And the genuineness of his disbelief could be very unnerving.
Are you indie or traditionally published?
I'm indie published.
Have you ever tried the other style of publishing?
No. I haven't tried traditional publishing. On this side, it's like taking a seat by the side of the road, waiting to see a unicorn gallop past.
What are you working on now?
At the moment, I’m concentrating my effort on the UbuntuFM Hip-Hop Radio Channel of which I am a co-founder. The UbuntuFM Hip-Hop Channel is an offshoot of the UbuntuFM project. It is an online-based platform dedicated to the promotion of Hip-Hop music to a global audience. Only recently, we launched our online radio app on the iTunes and Google Play Stores. In a very short while we have promoted quite a good number of artists and stake-holders in the entertainment business. It is been a fun ride, and I am enjoying it.
What is your most recent/upcoming release?
My most recent release is A Fistful Of Sands. It is a novel
set in modern Nigeria, about a dreadlocked teenager whose prank went out of
hand and brought a most unlikely set of people together. Through the eyes of
the characters, the reader experiences elements of the society as plain and
hilarious as it could get. It was released on Smashwords in August, and then
September on Okadabooks. I must confess that this is actually my first book,
but I had to hold it back until I was convinced it was polished enough for the
public taste.
Links to stalk you online:Email: Okehikenna@yahoo.com
Twitter: @IkennaOkeh
Facebook: https://mobile.facebook.com/okeh.ikenna
